Autism I was randomly browsing through the books over at the NUS co-op, when I came across a really interesting book. It was about autism. I've always found autistic kids very interesting, which was why at a point in time, I wanted to study speech pathology. But I didn't, in the end, because the course cannot be found in Singapore. Must go certain parts of Australia to study. No money...

Autistic kids have communication disabilities. They may be unresponsive to surroundings and may not understand what people are talking about. They are anti-social people who might find difficulty making friends. Most of these kids cannot speak in proper sentences and may be unaware of physical pain or may be extremely sensitive to pain (depending on individual). These kids have an IQ ranging from severely retarded to very superior. Which means some of these kids may be geniuses too.

As I read on, I came to realise something really serious. I'm autistic. Really. I'm not kidding. Adelyn here is autistic!!!

I think I belong to a category called the Asperger's syndrome. These people have normal language and IQ abilities, which means in this aspect, they are the same as normal people. The problem is, they have difficulty communicating with their peers and find it hard to make friends. They prefer to be alone, or be in the company of adults rather than their peers. In short, they are rather anti-social.

Sounds a lot like me. I think I'm autistic.

Haiz.

Can't believe it.

Also, yesterday, was reading the newspaper, and there was an article about a research concluding that playing to much computer games and watching too much tv can cause the brain to progress slower, and cause mental illness or something.

Oh no. I watch a lot of tv. Am I going crazy? Am I crazy? I think I am. Lol. Don't blame me. Blame the tv.

Anyway, I was revising for my English when I came across this poem in my textbook. Its really cool.

Let's face it,
English is a crazy language.
There is no egg in the eggplant
No ham in the hamburger
And neither pine nor apple in the pineapple.
English muffins were not invented in England
French fries were not invented in France.

We sometimes take English for granted
But if we examine its paradoxes we find that
Quicksand takes you down slowly
Boxing rings are square
And a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

If writers write, how come fingers don't fing?
If the plural of tooth is teeth
Shouldn't the plural of phone booth be phone beeth?
If the teacher taught,
Why didn't the preacher praught?

If a vegetarian eats vegetables
What the heck does a humanitarian eat?
Why do people recite at a play
Yet play at a recital?
Park on driveways and
Drive on parkways?

How can the weather be as hot as hell on one day
And as cold as hell on another?
You have to marvel at the unique lunacy
Of a language where a house can burn up as
It burns down,
In which you fill in a form
By filling it out
And a bell is only heard once it goes!

English was invented by people, not computers
And it reflects the creativity of the human race
(Which of course isn't a race at all).
That is why
When the stars are out they are visible
But when the lights are out they are invisible.
And why is it that when I wind up my watch
It starts
But when I wind up this poem
It ends.

Richard Lederer  ¶ Monday, October 18, 2004 0 comments